My shoots last month with Grasie from Style Me Grasie could be best described in one word: festive.
The holiday season hit us hard and she was going to holiday parties left and right – which meant tons of cute party outfits! She was finally able to incorporate more layers and hats in her casual looks since it was colder last month as well. While the new year is starting off a bit warm, I’m hoping it stays cool since I love winter layers!
This past LA Fashion Week, I had the opportunity to work with designer Tai Collins of Blackbuttafli once again.
It was great to be able to work with some familiar faces as well as meeting a whole new slew of models. Tai put together a variety of different lines for her solo show and I was totally in love with her swim line. We had some time to shoot some more promotional type material with the models and we did what we do best in LA – use the alleys!
The fashion show was a blast! Great job to everyone involved: Tai’s family for helping with all the details, the makeup and hair artists, and the models. Although shows never go without glitches, everyone pulled together to put on a great show for the audience.
Designer: Tai Collins
Models: Danielle, Jai, Janelle, Ana, Magdalene, Fabiulus, Dela
Makeup/Hair: Alicia Chen, Toni Sanders, Jesse Caseres
Photographer: Sylvia Gunde
Stylist/Concept: Joey Thao
Model: Sarah Roberts/Twigglet @ Willow Model Management
Makeup: Barbara Hori
Hair: Vanessa Hasset
Assistant: Jerrel Fajardo
[Behind the Scenes will be posted later!]
LA weather has been really fickle. We keep going in and out of heat waves with rain in between them. While Grasie still needs to throw in some looks in shorts & dresses, the rainy & cold days in between have allowed her to get some great sweaters and fall looks in there. These are the outfit posts we shot for November. (:
I’m currently aware that we’re finally in fall (it’s even begun to feel like it in LA) but I never posted about the shoot I did for Steppie’s summer line! I’ve always blogged about my (extremely fun) shoots for Steppie so it feels wrong to leave one out.
This collection brought in some new designs as well as some old designs that I shot during our very first Steppie shoot in Spring ’09. Still wanted to keep everything bright and fun but opted for a more industrial feel for this shoot. The planning portion of my shoots with Steppie is almost always my favorite part and I absolutely loved that we were able to shoot in a warehouse. The plain yet industrial walls and wall of paint cans were perfect. Thank you to Glad Rags Ink for making this a possibility!
(View more look book photos on Facebook)
We always have had great teams at Steppie shoot but so far, this one takes the cake. We had Joanna come out to solely do styling and I brought along two assistants to help with the set changes and to shoot behind the scenes. I think this shoot was the one that ran most smoothly despite the (quite big) hiccup! One of the hot lights I was using for the background ended up falling over and breaking halfway through the shoot (sorry again, Nao & Roxy) but we pushed on and made it work. Side note: I love warehouses and I love shooting in warehouses – options always seem endless. This experience was extra special because I walked in and the first thing I saw was a huge screenprinted Thrice flag. And then I saw boxes of L’Arc~en~Ciel and Dir en grey stuff (those are two Japanese bands I love). Apparently they screen print gear for a bunch of (good) bands. I’m a music junkie so being around all that was totally unexpected but very fun.
I am so happy with how the shoot turned out and I hope all of you Steppie fans out there enjoyed them as well!
Thank you again to this amazing team! We couldn’t have had such a great shoot without you all. (:
Steppie – It still blows my mind to see how far you have come in such a short period of time (and how far you will go is beyond me). I am amazed every time I see a new collection of yours and am so thankful for the experiences you have given me through all these shoots. I believe in you and your company so much. ❤
(See more behind the scenes on Facebook)
FOLLOW STEPPIE:
Website: thesteppie.com
Shop: steppie.etsy.com
Facebook: steppie.panda
Twitter: @the_steppie
Shooting with Grasie in October was exciting for several reasons. Los Angeles has finally decided that it may want to start feeling like fall. We’ve had lots of hot days in Oct still, but we had a couple days of rain and even some weather where we can wear pants and a jacket.
What really made October exciting was that Grasie got engaged to her long time beau, Damien!
I’m so excited for them! On one Wednesday of every month on her blog, Grasie has “Wedding Wednesdays” following her wedding planning adventures. Her first “Wedding Wednesday” post was all about her unique, vintage ring.
And now, on to the outfits from October!
As many of you know, I love photographing dancers so it was a no-brainer when the talented designer Joey Thao asked me to photograph a collection of fantastic dancers for his brand, Ingenious Fashion.
IF’s pieces are unique and funky yet easy to move in and are body conscious – things that every dancer looks for, especially when it comes to auditioning in LA. It was such a treat working with Joey (as always), Mindii, and the talented dancers (Karen, Kasey, Natalie, Ragon, and Amber). Dancers have a different awareness of movement and their body than models which is why it’s always interesting and fun to shoot with them. We really wanted them to bring their own dance styles into this shoot since each piece is as different as each dancer is.
You can see more photos from the shoot on Facebook.
Designer/Styling: Joey Thao
Makeup/Hair: Mindii
Dancers: Karen Song, Kasey Davage, Natalie Lyons, Ragon Miller, Amber Madison
Follow Ingenious Fashion:
Facebook: IngeniousFashion
Etsy: IngeniousFashion
Twitter: @IngeniousF
Tumblr: ingeniousfashion
Had a lot of fun with the outfit posts for Grasie Mercedes’ fashion blog, Style Me Grasie.
Grasie has also recently began her own show on LookTV (a new style network on youtube). Check out the awesome vids – from day-to-night looks and videos giving style tips & even how to thrift! Check out one below and subscribe!
Chris is a talented model that I’ve been blessed to work with on many different projects before. This guy is taking it to the next step and just moved to the Philippines to work in the Industry out there. Before he left he needed some more shots for his portfolio and he asked me to work with him on them.
I was actually the photographer at Chris’ very first shoot (for Steppie) years ago and it’s so amazing to see how far he’s come and how much hard work he puts in. I know he’ll continue to do amazing things and I can’t wait to see how he does in the Industry in Asia!
Had a great time shooting a fashion show for Blackbuttafli last month. Four talented designers came together to pull of this show – great job to Tai Collins (Blackbuttafli), Kat Damiani, James Poole, and Sassi Rebel. Also great job to the models – you were all great to work with!
Here are some of my fav looks from the night:
They even had some cute kids walk:
And James Poole had a really entertaining MC/hypeman.
To follow:
Blackbuttafli: Website / Facebook
Kat Damiani Designs: Website / Facebook / Model Mayhem
Sassi Rebel Clothing: Facebook
Photography. Music. Fashion. Food.
A photographer from Los Angeles. Sometimes I blog about my work and other times just about things I love.
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